Vladimir Radmanovic
Vladimir Radmanović (Serbian Cyrillic: Владимир Радмановић) (born November 19 1980 in Trebinje, Yugoslavia (now Bosnia-Herzegovina)) is a NBA basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers. He is often referred to as "the Radman". As a player in the NBA Radmanović is known for his deadly three-point shot, making 38% of his attempts. He made a career high eight three-pointers against the New York Knicks on January 8, 2006. His family is from Zadar in Dalmatia. He is an ethnic Serb and grew up in the town only having been born prematurely during a business trip his parents took to Trebinje in 1980. Radmanović wore number 77 for his uniform in Seattle because Rashard Lewis already wore #7 when he was first drafted. Radmanović is the only player in the history of the SuperSonics to wear number 77. He was involved in one of the most comical (and scarier) moments in the NBA where he fell on his head after dunking the ball. In the offseason of 2002, Radmanović for the first time got the honour of representing his country on big stage at the World Championships in Indianapolis. He had a so-so tournament coming off the bench, but he'll be more remembered for getting kicked off the squad by coach Svetislav Pesic during halftime of the semifinal game against New Zealand. Heavily favoured FR Yugoslavia couldn't get anything going in the first half, and coach Pesic was very animated at the break. When he spotted Radmanović eating a banana off by himself in the corner, not even paying attention to what he's saying, Pesic immediately sent him packing. Radmanović did not come out for the second half of the game that Yugoslavia ended up winning in a tense finish, nor did he feature in the memorable final win against Argentina. In the end Radmanović did not even come out to the podium to receive his gold medal. Aleksandar Smiljanic, an alternate who was earlier cut from the roster ended up receieving it in Radmanović's name. Still, Radmanović made the trip back to Belgrade with the rest of the squad and did make an appearance at the homecoming rally with a medal around his neck. After the 2004-2005 season, Radmanović turned down a six year, $42 million dollar contract to re-sign with the Seattle Supersonics. He instead decided to sign a one year deal, making him an unrestricted free agent after next season. The 2005 offseason was again very eventful for Radmanović. Parallel to his contractual wrangling, he was on national team duty for Serbia-Montenegro in Eurobasket 2005 on home soil following a month long training camp. After an atrocious team display against Tony Parker-led France and a failure to get into the quarterfinals, coach Zeljko Obradovic publicly launched into his team, singling Radmanović out for lack of commitment and specifically for not caring to remember how to execute a five-on-none play in training. Radmanović's seemingly lackadaisical attitude also infuriated many Serbian fans. It didn't help matters that once he got back to United States to rejoin the Sonics he was quoted in Seattle media protesting his benching in the final stages of the game vs. France, suggesting he should have played just by the virtue of being an NBA player. On February 14, 2006, Radmanović was traded from the SuperSonics to the Los Angeles Clippers for power forward Chris Wilcox. External links * Vladimir Radmanović at NBA.com * Radmanovic, Vladimir Radmanovic, Vladimir Radmanovic, Vladimir Radmanovic, Vladimir Radmanovic, Vladimir Radmanovic, Vladimir